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After a poor season most Ingwe fans would rather forget in a hurry after narrowly evading relegation, the club can only bounce up. But will they?
We thought the inclusion of a few foreign players would make our squad extremely dangerous throughout the season, but they have failed to impress!
Out of seven preseason competitive matches, Ingwe leaked in nine goals and scored just three, sparking uproar from a depressed fan base that is yet to celebrate a league title since 1998.
After a string of poor results in our preseason, it is clear that our defence is still shaky, especially the left fullback position.
During the build-ups, Ingwe was caged 1-0 by Tanzanian giants Yanga, lost 0-3 to KCB (who in retrospect are a good side, crashed 4-1 to Mathare United, slipped 1-0 to newly promoted league side Wazito, went down 0-1 to FC Talanta, before registering 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Nairobi City Stars and Administration Police FC respectively.
During the four-team tournament sponsored by Wazito, Ingwe players behaved like they were not ready for the challenge.
But it was refreshing to see young Collins Shichenje prove his worth whenever he was given a chance.
That aside, Ingwe has no stand out striker at the moment and will warmly welcome the surprise return of international Paul Were who has agreed to a one-year contract.
But the Den urgently needs a holding midfielder and two left wing backs.
Isaac Kipyegon, playing at that position, is a pale of a shadow player of heat the club expected him to turn out.
We thank the technical bench for bringing in Evans Maliach from Ushuru FC to cover the former Zoo Kericho defender.
Among the new players in Leopards brigade are defender Soter Kayumba from Sofapaka, defender Shichenje from Kakamega High School’s Green Commandos.
Foreigners who joined the team have not proved they are worthy of wearing the famous blue and white jersey of AFC Leopards. The foreigners include Malian Ismail Diarra formerly of Algeria side CA Bordj Bou, Burundi international Tresor Ndikumana and Ugandan goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan who replaced Erick Ndayishimiye.
It’s surprising they took up positions that could have been occupied by young ambitious local players. The players should understand that fans cannot pay players and officials for poor results.
Leopards axed 10 players as they brought in what the office then referred to as “structures for the new season”, but the truth is that we have not stabilised our squad enough.
It has become very difficult to pinpoint the shortcomings of our technical bench because they were not fully involved in the recruitment of the players. the blame should go to management.
Last season’s recruitment was wanting. Some players in the team did not even make it to the bench! Of what use is it to sign a player who does not see action the entire season?
We would rather have 18 players who are ready to do duty for the team rather than a bunch of loudmouths whose only value is persistent complains.
With little prospect of ending the 21-year wait for the league title, Ingwe faithful’s can only maintain their marriage to club because they have no suitor to turn to.
